Abstract
The desert tortoise, Gopherus agassizii, is a threatened species native to the North American desert southwest and is recognized as having genetically distinct Mojave and Sonoran desert populations. The Mojave Desert population is federally listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act and the Sonoran Desert population is fully protected under Mexican and United States state laws. We identified nine dinucleotide STR loci in the desert tortoise and tested their efficacy in 80 samples from both the Sonoran and Mojave deserts. One locus exhibited low allelic variation (4 alleles) while seven were highly variable (8–16 alleles). One locus exhibited a unique allele in congeners (G. flavomarginatus and G. berlandieri).
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Acknowledgments
We would like to thank K. Berry for her contribution of samples for this project, L. Yanof for assistance in the marker development, and the Arizona Research Laboratories staff for their support.
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Edwards, T., Lathrop, A., Ngo, A. et al. STR/microsatellite primers for the desert tortoise, Gopherus agassizii, and its congeners. Conservation Genet Resour 3, 365–368 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12686-010-9363-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12686-010-9363-6